The CDR, supported by Boeing, NASA, and the Air Force, approved the design for the Crew Access Tower, Crew Access Arm as well as the White Room that will allow the flight crews the ability to safely ingress and egress Boeing’s CST-100 crew module for launch. In addition, the team reviewed the conceptual design of the emergency egress system which is similar in design to the space shuttle basket escape system.

“This was a critical milestone to ensure all elements are in place to begin the construction as early as this fall to support the Boeing team and crewed launches of CST-100 from SLC-41,” said Ellen Plese, director, ULA Human Launch Services. “As ULA was creating the innovative new design elements for the pad, human safety factors were the primary consideration.”

“We have made great strides with ULA in the development of the CST-100 emergency detection system, the launch vehicle adaptor and now the crew access tower,” added John Mulholland, Boeing vice president of Commercial Programs and Commercial Crew Program manager. “Our focus is on human safety, and meeting these goals ahead of schedule puts us in a good position as we look forward to the next phase of the Commercial Crew Program.”

Once the work begins at SLC-41, the construction of the new elements to support human spaceflight will take approximately 18 months and will not impact any scheduled launches at the pad.

“The beauty of the plan is the integrated fashion in which the construction will be handled,” said Plese. “We will be constructing each segment of the new tower and access arm at an off-site location and performing assembly at the pad between launches. This allows ULA to continue its full manifest of launches from SLC-41 while preparing the pad for future commercial crew missions.”